01

What do we make of it?
That's the question.
What does it mean?
For us?
To us?
What does life mean?
What does our life mean?
What do we mean?
To us?
For us?

What is meaningful
and what is not?

How meaningfully do we live?
How meaningful is our life?
How meaningful is what we do each day?

How do our answers to these questions
stand up in the silence?
Stand up in the presence of Truth?

How truthfully do we live?
How does our life conceal us
from the Truth 
of how it is with us--
of how it is with our life?

What questions do we never ask?
What things do we never say?

How truthfully do we live?

–0–

02

I spend a good bit of my time
imagining worse-case scenarios
as my most likely future,
and have learned
to return to balance and harmony
by looking forward
to seeing how I respond to it
when I get there.

Waiting to see what I do
is my favorite thing.
And it has saved me a fortune
in alcohol purchases,
not to mention the prison sentences
for cocaine possession
I have avoided. 

Our future is highly unimaginable,
yet, we spend a lot of time
wandering among the ungodly
and absolutely horrendous 
as though it is a sure thing.

Save yourself unnecessary agony
by becoming curious
about how you will handle
the worst possible outcomes
when they inevitably come upon you.

–0–

03

It is important
to be right
about what is important.

That is our sole responsibility.
That is our soul's responsibility.
And it is our responsibility
to listen to--and heed--our soul
in all matters,
great and small.

We are our soul's servant
in the work of knowing and doing
what is important
moment by moment
in each situation as it arises.

We are here to spend our life
in the service of what matters most
in each situation as it arises.

In order to do that,
we have to be attentive.
Tuned in.
Present.
Awake.
Alert.
Mindfully aware.
In all times and places.

No not-knowing what is going on.
No interfering with our ability
to know what is going on
by being lost in fantasy,
swamped by desire,
consumed with fear,
bound by duty
and awash in the 10,000 things.

Sit still.
Be quiet.
Watch.
Listen.
Wait.
To know what needs to be done,
when,
where
and how--
and do it.

That is all we have to do.

How is it going?

–0–

04

Cultivating stillness
is as simple 
as being still
and quiet.

How hard is that?

The vantage point of stillness
allows us to see everything,
and seeing everything
is the key to knowing 
what to do about it,
here and now.

And that is all we need to know.
Ever.
Forever.
What to do now, here.

There is nothing difficult 
about any of this.

It's like Jesus said:
"It isn't across the ocean
that you have to start swimming
to get there,
and it isn't over the mountains
that you have to start climbing 
to get there,
and it isn't on the other side of the world
that you have to start walking
to get there.
It is right here,
right now,
as close as your next breath,
as near as your next thought.
All you have to do is be here, now,
sitting still,
being quiet"
(Or words to that effect).

–0–

05

There is a mask-- 
as in persona, not Covid 19-- 
or two
for every moment
of every situation
in every day
all our life long.

And we have to alert and agile
and swift
to switch masks to match
our roles
as the circumstances require
throughout all of the days
of our lives.

We cannot be one way only.
We have to be who is called for
in each here and now 
that comes along.

The coach is not the mother/father,
is not the daughter/son,
is not the role we play
in any moment that is not a coaching moment.

And we have to be
who the moment needs us to be,
who the moment requires us to be.

We have to move with the wind 
that blows where it will,
as is needed,
through all of the situations
and circumstances 
of each day.

It is amazing how our life
balances and harmonizes
and self-regulates
as we become adept
at changing roles
in ways appropriate
to the occasion,
and everything falls into place
around that. 

01

It is all useless,
pointless,
hopeless,
meaningless,
futile,
stupid
and absurd--
and coming to a very bad end:
We all are going to die!
And, therefore...

What?
And, therefore, what?

What is the meaning of meaningless?

What do we do in response to it?
In response to meaningless?
In response to the meaning of meaningless?

Who ascribes the meaning of meaningless 
to meaningless?
Who says what it means that it is
"All useless, pointless, meaningless..."?
Who says the "And therefore..." is automatic?
Logical? Rational? Universal?

Who. Says. So???

That would be each of us individually
around the table,
across the board.

We are The Meaning Makers.
We ascribe meaning to everything.
We say what it means that everything is meaningless--
that everything is what we say it is,
and everybody better listen to us
because we are right,
and know what we are talking about.

And we are making it all up.
We are making it up
when we say we are not making it up.
We make that up, too.
We make it all up.
Whatever is meaningful is meaningful
because we say so,
even if we say it is meaningless.

Even if we are repeating what someone else said,
we are saying it is worth repeating
because we say so.
And we are making that up.
And getting people to agree with us,
and saying all together,
"That's how things are!"
Because we all say so,
and how could all of us be wrong?

It is all such a con.
We are conning ourselves,
saying what things mean,
and convincing ourselves that they mean
what we say they mean
because everyone says so.

So, we get to "And, therefore..."
What?
What do we say it means 
that everything is meaningless?
What do we say we should do about it?
Because of it?
Why that and not something else instead?
Why does it follow that because
everything is meaningless,
we should do whatever 
it is we think we should do?

"Because that is the only thing
that makes sense"?
Who says so?
Who says "That is the only thing
that makes sense"?
How do they know?

They (or, you) are
making it up!
They/you make up 
"what makes sense,"
and act as though it does,
and the acting confirms their/your
evaluation of the situation,
and seals them/you to their/your fate.

Everything hangs on what we say
in response to what we have said.
And therefore what?

Whatever we say is going to be something
we take on faith.
Nothing follows nothing.
We make up all of our "and therefores."
We take it all on faith
that we know what we are talking about
when we say whatever we say.

What makes us think we know
what we are talking about?
Why do we take our word for it?
Why don't we wait and see what happens?

We can't stand the suspense.
We can't bear the tension,
can't stand the pain,
of not-knowing.
Oh, the agony!
Oh, the anguish!
Just end it all now!

No!
Don't!
Just sit still,
and be quiet,
and wait!

Take something else on faith!
Like, "Let's see what happens
without making anything happen."
Without messing with the moment.
Without screwing things up worse
than they are.
Without acting like we know 
what we are doing
when we don't know what we are doing.

Just wait.
Just watch.
Take a shower.
Go for a walk.
Don't do anything
to interfere 
with the natural unfolding of things
in the moment, her and now.

Do not intrude on the moment.
Do not rush to judgment.
Bear. The. Pain!

Have some ice cream.
Maybe a chocolate shake.
Sit tight.
Stand pat.
Chill out.
Breathe.
Slowly.
Deeply.
Wait.
Watch.
See what arises
in the silence.
See what stirs to life.
See what emerges.
Appears.
Comforts.
Consoles.
Calls...
From beyond
to right here, right now...
As a new realization
that transforms everything,
and gives you a fresh start on life,
and living,
and being alive.

–0–

02

The moment will teach us all we need to know:
To listen to the moment.
To see the moment.
To know what we know
and what we do not know...

Every valuable thing is right here right now.

Opening ourselves to the moment
is opening ourselves to ourselves.

Is seeing what is here with us.
Is seeing all that comes with us
into every moment.
Is seeing all there is to see
right here, right now.

Each moment contains every moment
that has preceded it.
Each moment impacts every moment
following it.

This moment is the fulcrum,
shifting past into future.

This moment is "the still point
of the turning world"
(T.S. Eliot),
the axis mundi,
the World Pole,
the center of the world,
the universe,
the cosmos.

It all starts again right here right now.
Teaching us all we need to know--
if we are open,
if we are receptive,
if we are listening,
looking,
watching,
waiting,
ready
for what is waiting
and ready
for us
here/now.

–0–

03

Finding our voice
is finding our face
is finding our original nature
is finding our true way of being in the world.

If we are hungry,
we know it.
We don't have to ask anyone,
"Do I look hungry to you?"
"Am I hungry??
"Should I eat something now?"

We know when we are hungry,
and we know when we have had enough to eat.
We don't ask anyone,
"Am I full now?"
"Should I quit eating now?"

But we let other people tell us
what to do,
how to dress,
how to wear our hair,
what to believe,
what books to read,
what movies to watch,
how to think and feel...
The list is long
of ways we allow other people
to direct our life.

There are boundaries that are our boundaries.
They are the borders
separating us from others.
We have to know where we start 
and they stop.

Robert Frost said,
"Good fences make good neighbors."
They also make it possible 
for us to be who we are 
in relation to our neighbors,
and not just an extension of our neighbors
on our side of the fence.

Or, perhaps we should just start asking people,
"Should I go use the toilet now?"
"Do you think I need to pee?"

–0–

04

You know how you see things?
That's how you are going to always see things
unless you enlarge your vocabulary
and change the people you hang out with,
which will probably mean 
changing where you hang out.

And you have to give up judgment
and opinions,
adopting an attitude
of interested neutrality
regarding everything--
which, in itself, will
change the way you see things.

You can have preferences,
but shoulds,
oughts,
musts, 
and 
have tos
go to the burning barrel. 

Include balance and harmony
in with the things you prefer,
and live out of your center
instead of out of your desires
and cravings.

All of this will come together
to enable you to make your peace
with your life,
and live with equanimity
and good faith
in all of your dealings
with other people.

And when you die,
people will come from miles around
to testify to the benevolent impact
you had on their life
and to how much better the world 
has become because you were in it.
And, they will be right. 

01

The problem with religion--
all religion--
is its take on blasphemy
and heresy.

A religion that embraces blasphemy
and encourages heresy
is my kind of religion.
The only way to find 
that kind of religion
is to create it on your own.

I have done that by saying,
"Don't listen to me!
Listen to YOU!"
And by encouraging people
to sit still and be quiet,
looking and listening
for what arises in the silence
to call/compel them to action.

The only thing you have to believe
is that it matters how you live
your life,
and then live as though it does.

That is all the religion anyone needs.

And it is religion 
because it is grounded in The Mystery
at the Heart of Life and Being,
about which nothing can be said
beyond "It is The Mystery
at the Heart of Life and Being!"

The Buddha held up a Lotus flower
and Mahākāśyapa smiled,
indicating he got it,
the only one in the crowd who did.
I'd say that is above average. 

The Buddha followed this up 
with his Flower Wreath Sutra,
in which he said,
"There is nothing more to say.
this is IT!!!"

Look around you!
This is IT!!! 

You either see the Mystery
or you don't.
You see the same old same old.
You see nothing special.
But you do not see what is 
so special about nothing special.

You want to be told something,
and I'm telling you all there is to say--
THIS IS IT!!!

And if you still don't get it,
sit still, be quiet
and listen/watch for something 
to stir in the silence,
calling you to life.

The Silence is the essence
of true religion.
Waiting for disciples
in the right frame of mind
to spread the word.

The distance from the wrong frame of mind
to the right frame of mind
is the length of the spiritual journey,
and it is made sitting still, being quiet,
waiting, looking, listening
for something to come to life in the silence.

We stand at the door and knock,
waiting for us to open the door
and see.

See?

The door is the Lotus flower!
The Lotus flower is the door!

Keep knocking!

–0–

02

The core/base/foundational requirement
for all spiritual practice
is non-attachment.

The three great temptations,
with Jesus in the wilderness
and with Buddha under the Bodi Tree,
were fear, desire and duty.

Detachment frees us from the threat
of all three.

Nothing to gain.
Nothing to lose.
Because we already have it all
right here, right now,
and nothing can take it from us.

We are anchored/grounded/attached
to the fundamental principle
of non-attachment,
and nothing can knock us off that.

So, begin to check out your attachments.
What matters to you?
What do you care about?
Upon what does your world turn?
Upon what does your life depend?

Begin the life-long process 
of detachment
by being aware of your attachments,
and reducing your need for them 
in your life.

Live to be strongly attached 
to fewer things year by year.

Distancing ourselves from our attachments
allows us the freedom to respond 
to our situations with no investment
in the outcome,
being present solely to do what is called for
with nothing to gain or to lose,
and nothing to stand between us 
and doing what needs to be done,
spontaneously,
from the heart,
moment to moment,
all our life long.

–0–

03

What is your art?
What is your life?

Answer those questions correctly,
and you win!

01

We all are carrying a load.
Complexity, conflict and contradiction
have their way with us.
Balance and harmony are rarely present for long.
Making peace with our life 
was out of the question years ago,
and we have settled for
making it through another day,
one day at a time.

Finding our life and living it
doesn't make it into our top 100
things to think about,
and going through the motions
is the best we can manage most days.

It is the same old same old
everywhere we look,
and all we look for
is something to take our minds
off the business of being alive.

We turn things around
by being quiet for five minutes
five times a day. 

Silence is the sure cure
for what ails us,
but first the pain and anguish,
sorrow and sadness.

We meet it all in the silence,
waiting for us to reconcile 
ourselves with everything that has been.

We don't live this long
without stacking up grief
beyond measure in the quiet darkness
of memory and remorse.
And we live to forget 
what can't be forgotten.
And won't go away.

Jon Kabat-Zinn recommends
gathering it all into our awareness
(without addressing everything at once,
or being hijacked or kidnapped by any of it),
in a "This, too. This, too." kind of way. 

Acknowledge it as it comes up,
and welcome it to its rightful place in your life.
Promise it its time with you in due course,
and return to the silence
of here and now,
and what now,
and what next.

Learning to be still and quiet
with the all-ness of our experience
is the turning point 
from the past as it has always been,
to the future as it might yet be.

We are the fulcrum between old and new.
Being quiet and open,
present and receptive,
is the key to the door to our life
as it still might be.

"Here I am.
I'm sorry to be late.
Let's see what we can do,
even now, even so,"
quiets the accusers,
the remember-ers,
the grudge-bearers,
the critics,
and all those who want their time with you,
and puts you all in the present
with "Here we are, now what?"
to deal with at last.

All that has been has its rightful
and necessary place
in the work to create what can be.
Nothing is to be dismissed, ignored, forgotten.
Everything is of value 
in doing what needs to be done.

We have been nurturing wisdom into being
all this time,
and now for its realization and application
in the service of what lies ahead--
to be revealed and revered in the silence
of wonder and amazement,
moment by moment,
day by day
the rest of the way.

Sit still, be quiet
for five minutes,
five times a day.

–0–

02

Relax into your life
and go with it
as though it were
your own idea.

Stop striving to control
and direct,
to compel 
and prevent.

Look for ways to cooperate
and assist,
to participate
and take part.

What is being called for?
What would be helpful?
Proper?
Most fitting to the occasion?

Do that!

Help things become
what they are trying to be!
Live--not to serve your way--
but to be a source
of grace and blessing
for the time and place
of your living--
of each here and now--
without judgment or opinion,
but with a genuine desire
to be good for the things
and people that come your way.

Such is the mark
of a life well lived!

01

We have to meet the silence
empty and open,
still and receptive.

No fear.
No desires.
No anger.
No hatred.
No judgment.
No opinion.

We bring stillness and emptiness,
openness and receptivity
to the silence,
and wait,
watching,
for what emerges,
occurs to us,
arises,
appears,
beckons,
calls,
urging us to action
without
fear,
desire,
anger,
hatred,
judgment,
opinion.

Just seeing.
Just hearing.
Just knowing.
Just understanding.
Just doing.
Just being.
Just becoming.

What needs to happen.
What needs to be done.
When it needs to be done.
How it needs to be done.
Where it needs to be done.
Because it needs to be done.

Out of our true nature.
Out of our original nature.

With the gifts,
daemon (sounds like "diamond"),
virtues,
spirit,
energy,
vitality,
characteristics,
qualities,
ways of being and doing,
seeing and saying,
that came with us from the womb.

Moment by moment,
in each situation as it arises.

This is our dharma-duty
that we are born to serve
and to do
out of our true nature,
our original nature,
within the context and circumstances
of our life,
all our life long.

We never quit being
who we are,
where we are,
when we are,
for the sake of
the true good of the whole,
in filial service
and liege loyalty and devotion
to that which needs us to be
who we are,
where we are,
when we are,
for the sake of 
the true good of the whole.

If you do not know 
what I am talking about,
sit still and quiet
and allow the silence
to show you
what I mean.

–0–

02

Fulfilling our destiny/dharma 
is doing what needs to be done--
what needs us to do it--
what we need to do
in the time and place of our living. 

We may well want to do it,
and we may be compelled to do it,
past all wanting, desiring, craving.
Our destiny/dharma is 
that which we have to do
or to live forever having not done it, 
having failed to respond
when the time for acting was upon us,
or having responded with a steadfast refusal
to do what we knew was needed,
but did not have the heart for,
or the interest in.

Putting ourselves in the service
of our destiny/dharma
and serving it
with all our heart,
and soul,
and mind,
and strength 
is finding our life
and living it.

Through all situations
and circumstances,
no matter what.

The trick is to remember
what we are doing
and refuse to let anything 
keep us from doing it.

It will seem to be useless,
pointless, meaningless, hopeless
futile and absurd. 
Keep going.
Stay with it.
Believe steadfastly
that it matters how we live,
and live as though it does--
anyway,
nevertheless,
even so!

If we are going to ever
take anything on faith,
let it be this,
and live like it matters
to our very last breath!

01

Between 200 and 500 CE,
the person or persons responsible
for the Taoist treatise "Cultivating Stillness,"
wrote:
"Abide in stillness, 
and you will enter the true way,
this is called 'receiving the Tao.'"

About the time the Book of Job
was being written, 
Prometheus Bound was also being written.
Two works dealing with two men's response
to an absurd deity in control of their life,
with two completely different outcomes.

2,000 years later, nothing has changed.

The Truth remains the Truth.
To be seen or not seen by those
who live under the same sun
that has burned above all of the ages
to live upon the earth.

The moral of the Garden of Eden
remains the same over time:
"You are going to let your personal desire
for gain and pleasure
ruin your chances at a life
that is truly good."

Or, as it is sometimes stated:
"The Best is the enemy of the Good."

What is good?
Who is to say?
I am to say for me,
you are to say for you.
Who knows what they are doing?
Time will tell.

This is the theme that plays itself out
in the lives of all 
between their birth and death.
How good is the good we call good?
Time will tell.

What leads us to declare
that one thing is better than another?
To say that one thing is good
and the rest is not?

We are all in Eden.
What shall we say?
How shall we know?

"Abide in stillness
and you will enter the true way,
this is called, 'receiving the Tao.'"  

How many have benefited 
from these words
over 3,000 years?

Only those who know what they mean
can understand what they are saying.
How do those who know, know?

What separates Prometheus from Job?

What guides our boat
on its path through the sea?

How do we know what to do when?

"Abide in stillness..." 

–0–

02

Balance and harmony,
spirit, energy and vitality,
are worthy guides,
indicating when we are on the beam
and when we are off it.

Ignoring,
dismissing,
overriding
the guides 
has us where we are,
individually and collectively.

We have left the path,
lost the way,
and wander in a wasteland
of our own making,
looking for smooth and easy,
hoping for the best,
dreaming of deliverance
and happiness ever after
at a price we can afford.

The price is the sticky part.

The price we have in mind
is wishing it to be so
without doing anything
to make it so.

We don't want to do anything.
We just want to be happy.
We just want to have our way.
What's wrong with that?
Why can't we just have our way?

Why can't we do what we want,
when we want,
the way we want,
for as long as we want,
and then do something else we want?

That's all we have ever wanted!
Why is that not the way things are?

The price of having what we want
is relinquishing the central place
of having what we want in our life.

Simply put,
the cost of being fully alive
is growing up,
seeing what's what
and doing what needs to be done about it,
in each moment
of every situation as it arises.

Our refusal to do that
is what kicked us off the beam
(And out of the Garden of Eden)
to begin with.

And, here we are,
in the wasteland of our discontent,
still having to grow up.

That is all that is ever in our way.

–0–

03

Distance from complexity and conflict,
contradiction and forced choices,
anxiety, fear, uncertainty, insecurity, instability,
anger, resentment, grief, sorrow, mourning...
is balance and harmony,
silence and stillness
where the mud can settle
and the water can be clear.

We need places like that in our life.
Sanctuaries,
retreats,
oases 
from a torn and broken world.

A photograph might be
such a doorway,
a portkey,
from there to there.

An art museum.
A library.
A city park.
A country meadow.

The world is filled
with such healing places.
Balm for our wounds,
consolation,
comfort,
for our souls.

It is wrong to not seek them out
and soak up
what they have to offer.
A break from the press of our days,
a relief from the weight of life,
a place to,
in the words of Robert Ruark,
"recover from the past
and store up for the future."

01

Our practice comes down to
the way we consciously
follow a particular program
for our life.

The elements of that program
are unique to each individual,
but include a basic set of:

Grounding in the silence.

Conscious development
and readjustment
of our relationship 
with ourselves,
one another
and the invisible world.

Distancing ourselves from
distractions such as 
noise,
desire/craving/wanting,
judgment/opinion,
fear/resentment/anger/hatred,
guilt/shame/humiliation/embarrassment.

Following the Alchemical observation,
"One book opens another,"
in reading the works of those
who have sought out what works
through the ages,
and making our own contribution
to their effort
through reflection on their experience
and ours,
without taking anyone else's word for anything.

Looking for things that ring true,
that resonate with something within,
that call us to look closer,
investigate further,
know more.

Listening to our heart,
our body,
our nighttime dreams,
and our daily life.

Knowing when someone 
is pushing their way 
into our life
in a way that diminishes
our capacity and responsibility for
thinking our own thoughts,
coming to our own conclusions
and deciding for ourselves 
whom to listen to
and what to do--
and drawing the necessary lines.

Trusting ourselves to know
what to do,
when, where and how,
and following the guidance
that comes from within
in all matters great and small.

Finding the tipping point,
the balance place,
between the "I" and the "We,"
so that "Thou Art That"
remains a personal realization
and not a communal imposition,
and we remain in charge of
what to say "Yes" to
and what to say "No" to
all our life long--
so that the life we live
is ours in the fullest sense of the term,
and what we do here, now,
is entirely up to us,
for better and for worse,
throughout the time left for living.

–0–

02

We live best from the ground up,
and from the inside out.

This is called Living Organically.

Responding to the world
from our Original Nature
is offering what we have to give
in the service of what is called for
moment by moment.

To manipulate and exploit
each moment
in light of what we hope to gain
from the moment
is to impose our idea for our life
on our life
in the service of having our way.

This is called Living Inorganically.

The difference is the difference
between living to be who we are
and living to be who we want to be.

No difference is greater than this difference.

It is the difference between having it made
and having nothing at all.

–0–

03

Milton Erikson tells a story about a horse walking
into his yard when he was a child,
and his father ordered him to take the horse home.
Milton had no idea where the horse came from,
so, he climbed up on the horse's back
and kept it from stopping to eat grass,
and the horse took itself home.

This is a wonderful metaphor for our search for
home,
God,
The Way,
The Tao,
enlightenment,
illumination,
awakening,
awareness,
realization, etc.

The 14th observation in "Cultivating Stillness" reads:
Although we speak of attaining the Tao, 
there is really nothing to attain, 
since we possess it from the very beginning. 
We arise from the Tao. 
The Tao resides in us. 
We cultivate ourselves from within.

This is the way it is with 
home,
God,
The Way,
enlightenment,
etc.

We only need to know what we know,
what is "there" already,
within.

We have to figure out 
what it might mean
to keep ourselves from stopping to eat grass,
and watch us take ourselves home, etc.

What are we doing to
"shoot ourselves in the foot,"
and stop ourselves 
from going "home"?

How are we interfering with
our own illumination/awakening/enlightenment?

Take these questions into The Silence,
sit quietly,
and see what arises/emerges/occurs/beckons...
within.

And notice where we "stop to eat grass"
on the way to The Silence."

–0–

04

What happened to knock you off track--
if you have been knocked off track?

What took the wind out of your sails?
What caused you to give up?
Quit?
Say, "What the hell?"
Take up drinking
and druggin'
and stop exercising?

When did you give up
and start doing whatever it takes
to get through another day?

Write yourself a letter 
about that entire experience.
Say all you have to say about it.
Delve into it.
Don't just pass it off.
Explore it.
Relive it.
Remember it.
Write it out.
All the way out.
Keep the narrative going
for as long as it takes.

Ask all of the questions
that beg to be asked--
and all the questions
the questions raise.
And do your best to answer them.

And ask all of the questions
the answers beg to be asked.
And answer them.
Etc. And So Forth.

This is called getting to the bottom of it.
You owe it to yourself to do that.
The self, I mean, that was counting on you
to not do that.
That self needs you to do this.

It's a way of redemption,
of atonement.
Of confession.

The best way.

Start writing.

01

When we embrace our fate,
we unite with our destiny.

We are born into our fate--
our DNA is fated.
We couldn't do anything about it.
It is a given.

So are our parents
and our point of origin
in space and time.

So are our loves and our hates,
our preferences and our disinclinations.

And all the things about us
that we cannot help.

Our destiny is what becomes of us,
because and in spite of,
the things we can't help.

Our destiny is what we do with our fate.

Our destiny is what we might yet be--
anyway, nevertheless, even so.

Our destiny is what is ours to do
with the gifts/proclivities/interests/
genius/daemon (sounds like "diamond")/virtues/
character/spirit/etc.
that came with us from the womb,
in the time and place,
the context and circumstances,
the here and now,
of our living.

Our destiny and our fate are bound together,
and join to produce us and the life we live.

Our dreams may have nothing to do with either.
And may have everything to do with both.

This is where The Silence enters the frame.

We find our way amid fate, destiny and dreams
by tuning to The Silence,
and waiting for "the mud to settle
and the water to clear."

By "cultivating stillness,"
and watching/listening
for what arises/emerges/occurs/appears 
unbidden within,
to beckon and call us to action.

Judgment and opinion have no place
on the road to what is ours to do,
or, their place on the road
is to provide the excursions necessary
to learn they have no place on the road.

Balance and harmony are essential guides.
We "feel" more than we "know."
And must learn to know what we feel,
and to trust it to lead us along the way.

The rule of thumb is:
"We feel our way to What,
we think our way to How,"
though where feeling stops
and thinking starts 
is a point to faint to find.

"We know when we are on the beam
and when we are off it"
(Joseph Campbell).
And so, the trick is to know what we know,
to attend our feelings,
and honor The Silence
with regular returns to the stillness
of mindful awareness.

(The Jon Kabat-Zinn YouTube videos
are excellent resources here--
the shortest ones first)

With these instructions in hand,
all that is left
is being quiet
and seeing what happens.

Happy trails,
with one thing leading to another
all along the way!

–0–

02

All religion is grounded 
upon the principle
of the accumulation of merit.

If you want to get to heaven
and avoid hell
either before or after you die,
you have to do it 
the way the religion in question
tells you to do it,
there-by earning your reward
by the way you believe and live your life.

It is the same way 
with what I have to offer.
With my approach,
you earn merit by having no interest
whatsoever in earning merit.

The heart-felt position
of "No merit! No gain! No contrivance!"
of "Only sincerity! Only spontaneity!
Only living with nothing in it for you!"
is the key to awakening,
realization,
illumination,
enlightenment,
and the glories of "the Farther Shore,"
and "The Pure Land"
of happiness and glory everlasting.

Nothing to be gained
is the way of infinite gain.

And merit-based religion
is the only kind of religion.
And "unconditional love"
is the best joke of all
(Because if you don't believe 
love is unconditional,
you go straight to hell).

–0–

03

There is no straight path
from here to there.

Carl Jung talks about the journey
from outer to inner
as "The circumambulation of the self"--
a spiral inward from the widest base
to the still point at the axis mundi,
where we arrive to join all others
at the heart of who we are.

There are no shortcuts on the way
from our head to our heart,
and everyone faces the same
hardships and ordeals,
makes the same discoveries,
uncovers the same truth,
realizes the same revelations,
comes to the same conclusions,
and knows what has been known
by all who have known
through the ages:
Be Who You Are!
The I and the We are One!
Thou Art That!

"At the end of all our exploring,
will be to arrive where we started,
and to know the place for the first time"
(T.S. Eliot).

01

The key to happiness is few opinions. 

The more opinions we have,
the less happy we are.

The people who know everything
have no idea of how to be happy.

See everything,
judge nothing,
be happy.

Compassion and grace
leave things as they are
until it becomes necessary
to make changes.

And then, they act
with compassion and grace
to change what must be changed
as it should be changed,
when it is time to be changed,
and everyone is blessed
without knowing how or why.

Those who know,
live organically,
authentically,
genuinely,
from their heart,
out of their original nature
and transform the world
without making waves
or stirring up dust.

Because their actions
are in sync with time and place,
things are changed
without force or show,
and no one knows anything happened.

Living sincerely
in response to what needs 
to be done--
without contrivance,
manipulation
or agendas--
is appropriate 
to every occasion,
and as unremarkable
as "Bless you,"
is to a sneeze.

Just seeing,
just hearing,
just knowing,
just doing--
without judgment or opinion,
designs or contrivance--
with nothing to gain
and nothing to lose,
serves the good of the moment
without doing anything
out of the ordinary,
and everything is as it should be,
apparently of itself,
as magically
as water finding its way to the sea.

–0–

02

We generally perpetuate our moods
by giving them more attention
than they deserve.

Moods come and go throughout each day.
Triggers and buttons are everywhere.
Something is always setting us off,
stirring complexes to life,
generating moods,
producing states of mind,
sending us into spirals,
up or down depending on the context,
instigating drug or alcohol use
to celebrate or escape the emotional whirl--
because we can't just let the mood pass
with a nod of recognition
and go on about our business.

Our moods have their business, 
and we have ours.
They are like emotional memories
we will never outlive,
and we can acknowledge that 
without allowing them to ransack
what remains to be lived.

Perhaps, we honor them
with a few minutes of silence,
acknowledging their right to exist,
because we have been in some places
we are glad to no longer be,
but letting them have the run of our life
permits them to hijack us and haul us back
to times we left for good reason.

We say, "Thanks for the reminder--
I'm glad things are different now,"
and turn our focus to what needs to be done
here and now,
moving back into our day.

01

All it takes is time.
Time will tell.
Everything becomes clear in time.
Time reveals all.

If you don't know what to do,
just wait to see what you should have done,
and you will know better what to do
next time.

Our entire life is a record
of what works,
and what doesn't work--
of what to do,
and what not to do.
All we need to know what to do
and what to leave undone
is right there,
revealed clearly as the mid-day sun
on a cloudless day
for those who look 
with eyes to see.

If we keep making the same mistakes
and ending up in the same place,
we either aren't looking,
or we can't see what we look at.
Which keeps us cycling forever
around the same convictions
that haven't worked
since they were conceived.

Who is responsible for what
we know to be so?
That would be us.
How well does our life bear us out?

Our life is the result
of our believing what we believe.
Dr. Phil would ask,
"How's that working for you?"
We have to be honest here
and see who, or what, we blame.

If it weren't for who or what
how would things be different-better?

What keeps us doing the same things,
expecting a different outcome?
When are we going to look at the evidence
plainly revealed by how things are,
and do things differently next time?

We are the only constant remaining in place
throughout our life.
We are what we have believed and done.
And here we are because of that.

Our life isn't going to change
until we change 
what we believe and do.

You know by now where I am going to say
the answer lies:

Sit down.
Be quiet.
Listen to the silence.
Wait for what emerges,
arises,
appears,
unbidden.

See what it is asking of you.

Decide to do it or not.

And keep following this process
until your life takes a turn for the better.
And keep following it
for as long as life lasts.

–0–

02

We all have the same source,
the same origin,
the same goal.

This is not a competition.
It is not a race.
It is not test 
to see who is best.

We are not in it 
for what we can get out of it.
The only measure of success
is the degree to which 
we help one another
in the work that is ours to do,
individually and collectively:

Seeing,
hearing,
understanding,
knowing,
doing,
being,
becoming.

Becoming what?
Becoming those who 
see,
hear,
understand,
know,
do,
be,
become
those who see...etc.

That's all there is.

Having, owning, possessing,
acquiring, achieving, amassing...
are distractions
that keep us from seeing, hearing, etc.

It's the old Garden of Eden story
being acted out in our lives
over and over throughout time.

What are we doing here?
What are we living for?
What guides our boat 
on its path through the sea?
How do we know what is worth 
our time and attention?
Who says so?
Who is our authority
in determining the right answer
to these questions?
How do we know they know
what they are talking about?

Where do we go from here?

–0–

03

I could talk myself out of everything.
I come from a long line of ancestors
who never took a chance,
never stepped out of the normal and customary,
never asked questions,
never explored their world,
never wondered,
never imagined,
never created,
always did what they were told,
and made it difficult
for anyone they knew
to be different than they were.

I'm swimming against an ingrained current
to do anything I've never done before.

Maybe you know what I mean.

When I sit quietly and reflect on these things,
I am always brought to the place
of realizing again
that I owe it to myself
to find out if there is anything to be afraid of.

I am reminded again
that I can trust myself 
to have what it takes
to find what I need
to deal with anything 
that comes my way.

I have always done it.
There is no reason to think
that I will suddenly stop
being able to do it.
So, I say to myself,
step into the thing you fear
and see what there is 
that you won't be able to deal with.

And here I am.
Still in business.
Looking for something 
I can't handle.